If you recently started a small business, you may be able to handle its tasks tracking needs by employing amateur task tracking methods, using email and spreadsheets to receive and chronicle task information.
But if you plan on growing your business, there will probably come a time when your task tracking methods result in poor task categorization and delegation.
If your business is small and doesn't need a computer-based tasks tracking system, there is no need to purchase one until it does.
However, many companies fall into the trap of sticking with their original tracking methods in order to save money.
But they actually end up losing money, especially if their work focuses on client projects.
Companies that perform projects without the aid of web based task tracking-also referred to as web based issue tracking and issue tracking software-typically end up experiencing one of two scenarios on a regular basis: projects that exceed their timeline in order to deliver quality, or projects that are completed on time at the expense of quality.
The same scenario can happen to companies that offer products instead of services.
Instead of beginning production on time and producing quality products, they remain behind the competition regarding release dates or perish against the competition by releasing timely products that don't have their defects corrected.
The greatest tragedy of poor task tracking is that makes companies look incompetent at what they do, when, in reality, they are competent; they simply don't possess task management practices that make their competence shine.
Unlike some business problems, telltale signs, one of which is management's unawareness of how task resolution is progressing in real time, always reveal the problem of improper task management.
Many of us have had the experience of attending project meetings where most of the meeting was spent figuring out what had and hadn't been done instead of looking ahead in the project.
But the problem wasn't with management or project participants; it resided in a lack of communication between the two, which a web based tasks tracking system can solve.
Web based task-tracking systems allow tasks to be categorized using specific criteria, including the nature of the task, its severity and its expected resolution time, which improves task delegation.
Then, once tasks are delegated to the right workers, management can use the tasks-tracking system to observe task progress in real time, re-delegating tasks and shifting workloads as necessary to ensure that workers stay busy for the duration of a project.
Unlike onsite task-tracking systems, which require hardware and software purchase and result in system implementation, system maintenance and system upgrade costs, a web based tracking systems are offered through a software as a service (SaaS) provider for an affordable monthly fee that doesn't include the expenses mentioned above, and can be canceled and reinstated at any time.
As your business grows, don't let it outgrow its tasks tracking strategy.
When task categorization and delegation become an issue, contact a web based tracking provider.